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It's that time again. Time to say goodbye to the old year...hello to the new one. As we prepare to welcome in 2011, we are also welcoming a new Drool Gang member into the (extended) family, so I thought I'd lead this post off with a photo (right) of Dixie. She is such a cutie-pie and is joining Missy M and Ella Rae (who I'm not supposed to refer to as my grand-dog...:) in L'ville. She's 2 1/2 years old, with red and white coloring (she looks a lot like Elmo, don't you think?). And, she's got a big voice for such a little girl. I haven't met her in person (canine?), but I have heard her bay over the phone. Woo-woo!

So, it's New Year's Eve. Most people celebrate by going out on the town, putting on party hats, and toasting with champagne at midnight. Us? Well, we are such party animals (NOT!) around here that our agenda for the day has been a bit different.

We have been enjoying the results of Mr. T's BirdCam that he got for Christma…

*To explain the significance of the title: ...as said by the incomparable Sydney Greenstreet, playing Mr. Yardley, at the end of one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies, A Christmas in Connecticut...the 1945 original, starring Barbara Stanwyck as Elizabeth Lane. Don't even speak to me about the remake; it doesn't exist in my universe. BTW, I really want to be Elizabeth Lane when I grow up.Anyway.

I do hope you've had a wonderful, marvelous, heart-warming, and soul-restoring Christmas, too. One that just took your breath away.
﻿ ﻿I finished up my baking with a three-layer coconut cake (photo, right), made with 7-minute icing and ambrosia (pineapple, orange, and coconut cooked in a sugar-syrup) filling. My step-great-grandmother, Ner (who was married to Nananny/Ed Lee Stewart and whose "real" name was Nelle Rhea Stewart) used to make fabulous coconut cakes and ambrosia at Christmas, and I inherited this labor of love. I just can't grate the coconut …

Diabetics beware! Do not come within 5 miles of our house for at least the next couple of weeks. It just isn't safe.

OK. You've been warned.

Although the high winds we've endured as we entered the Red Zone before the Holidays have done their best to destroy...or at least rearrange...all the outdoor decorations, I'm happy to report that we have escaped relatively unscathed. It took some hasty hammering of stakes to anchor the Reindeer, but they are still standing as of this A.M.

The one casualty is Santa...he of the blow-up variety. His chimney filled with water...from the rains and wintry mix...and that turned to solid ice when the temps dropped into the teens. I attempted to free him from the frozen chunks, and in the process managed to hopelessly entangle one of the motors in the folds of the fabric. Arrrggghhh. So, Santa is currently unplugged and in triage, awaiting the arrival of decorating specialist Dr. T from his Baltimore/DC trip on Thursday.

We got up this morning, had coffee in our Christmas mugs, and turned on the fireplace to enjoy a calm, cozy Saturday morning. The house is decorated for the Holidays, (well, all except the dining room) and it feels so warm and happy.

Check out the photo (below) of the great room. You can see some of the nutcrackers on the mantle (since the collection now numbers 58, there are gaggles of them all over the house), some of the bears on the trunk (that's the new 2010 Belkie Bear on the right, with the 2003 Harrod's Bear in the middle, and Belkie Bear 1994 on the left) and in Missy M's tiny red rocker (Belkie Bear 2000 holding some bear buddies), and the sentamental ornaments on the tree. Ahhh...
﻿﻿ ﻿﻿ ﻿ ﻿ Then we turned on the local weather station. Drat. Weather people were saying we were in for rain, freezing mix, wind, and a big blast of Arctic air...along with a hurricane-style barometer reading. About the only thing they weren't predicting was a plague of loc…

I've been decorating the house for the Holidays (photos in the next post), doing some baking, writing the annual newsletter, signing and addressing the Christmas cards, and...in my spare time on Thursday...driving Miz Edith. Mom had made her list and checked it twice...and she was ready to go shopping as soon as the sun came out. Cold weather or not...

To get me moving in the direction she wanted to go, she tempted me with an offer of breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I'm a sucker for country ham and biscuits, don't you know?

But, she had a bigger plan than just enjoying a meal together. Power shopping! I'm telling you, that little lady (photo, right) can spend with speed! Even using her walker didn't slow her down much.

If you know me, you know I was out of the room when they handed out the shopping genes. I'm not much of a shopper...never have been, never will be. …

﻿ Snow! Snow!! Snow!!! Snow!!!! S-n-o-w!!!!! (Sung to the tune from "White Christmas." You know that one, don't you? When Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye meet up with the girls, played by Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen, in the train's dining car? On their way to Vermont? You know the one I mean, right?!)

Yes, it's the first snowfall of the season for us here in HPNC. And, as always, I'm loving it!

Mr. T and I got up earlier than we usually do on a Saturday morning so we could take the Houndz to the Fluff 'n Fold...our pet phrase for the Grooming Center at PetsMart. Although they are never happy to make this journey, they all really needed to go to the salon; their nails were turning into talons! Duchess' dew-claws looked like the Wicked Witch of the West...and she certainly knows how to use 'em. Ouch.

After herding the Basset Brigade behind the swing-door in the store, we humans headed for Bruegger's Bagels in Friendly Center. We don't h…